I know you believe there was a water vapor canopy surrounding the Earth before the flood, but I recently read an article claiming that both the Bible and science agree that couldn’t have been so. The author’s conclusions are based on two Hebrew words in Genesis 1:6-7 and the fact that our atmosphere couldn’t support the amount of water it would take. What do you think? Did God change the atmosphere so He could put the water vapor canopy in place?
I’ve done my own research on the Hebrew of Genesis 1:6-7 and disagree with the author’s conclusions. I think the most straight forward interpretation of the passage describes what we could call a water vapor canopy that encircled the Earth before the Great Flood. Rather than wondering if God changed atmospheric conditions to make a water vapor canopy possible, wouldn’t it make more sense to wonder if the collapse of the canopy caused the Earth’s atmosphere to change? After all the Bible says there was one, and no man can measure atmospheric conditions before the collapse.
For reasons I fail to understand, we seem much more willing to accept fallen man’s objections to what the Bible says than we are to take God’s word for things. I always suspect that people who write articles like the one you referred to begin with the conclusion that the Bible is wrong, and then set about to prove it. What do people gain by disputing God’s word? Are they trying to prove they’re smarter than He is? Or that His word isn’t reliable? Either way, it’s a losing strategy.